MINSK, 23 September (BelTA) – The Belarusian economy is currently performing on the back of stressful and unfavorable external factors, Belarus' Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov said as he met with President Alexander Lukashenko on 23 September to present the report on the country's economic performance in 2016 and the draft social and economic development forecast for 2017, BelTA has learned.
“Today the economy is operating in the conditions of the stressful and unfavorable scenarios developed to make forecasts at the beginning of the year,” said Andrei Kobyakov.
The Prime Minister used the comprehensive analysis of the country's economic performance in the past eight months to name three major periods. “January-February was a stress period, with the oil price equaling $30 and less and the exchange rate standing at RUB80 per US dollar. March-June was a period of recovery. July-August – a period of negative impact, first of all, because of a decline in Russian oil deliveries to the Belarusian oil refineries and also due to an unfavorable situation in the agricultural sector,” he explained.
According to Andrei Kobyakov, the reduction in the cost and volumes of potash exports also influenced the economic performance in January-August 2016.
